The walk to Yakuyama was fairly uneventful, since Kiba and Shino seemed content to stick to the ground rather than run the rooftops like I had during the mission. Since we weren't in a hurry, I was fine with it too. As we walked, I looked up towards the sky, using a hand to shade my eyes from the sun as I looked at the clouds. The weather here was pretty balanced, though I couldn't really guess the exact degrees; just warm enough to be comfortable with normal clothes, but cold enough to justify sweaters and jackets like most of the Genin wore. I decided to keep my own sweater where it was, since I didn't need it.

Once we got to Yakuyama, it was pretty clear why Kiba had known about the place. Most of the customers seemed to be Inuzuka or with one, with all the ninja dogs in the building. It wasn't a total hound show, but it was pretty clear who had influence here. Still, he did promise they'd have stuff for everyone, and if he was connected to the place we might get a discount.

We were brought over to an empty booth and sat down, with Shino by the window and me beside him on one side, while Kiba and Akamaru took the other side of the booth. When the waitress came around, Shino ordered a salad, while Kiba got some steak and asked for a dish for Akamaru. "I always make his food for him, so we just need something he can eat out of," he explained with a shrug.

I had to take a little longer to make my choice, eventually settling on a small bowl of rice with teriyaki chicken on top. I wanted to get something sweeter, but I could save that sort of thing for later. Right now, it was more important to get some real food, since I had to get something cheap and quick before the test.

We had some time to talk while we waited for our food, especially since it seemed the restaurant preferred to serve fresh meat. Fresh off the bone, into the oven, and onto your plate. Kiba was the one who started the conversation. "So, how do you think the others did with their tests? If we had it this rough it couldn't have been easy for the others."

"I'm sure they did fine," I said idly, thinking about it. With Kurenai and Kakashi as examples, it looked like the 'test' was more about teaching a lesson to the Genin than anything. 'Communication is vital,' 'Value your teammates,' things like that. They were also lessons that both teams needed; even if I weren't here, the original shy, closed-off and unconfident Hinata wouldn't have been able to handle things very well either. I had to wonder what sort of tests Asuma and Gai gave their teams.

From the look Kiba gave me, I had said something wrong. I looked over to Shino, only to see his eyebrow quirked at me questioningly. "Did I say something wrong?" I asked, looking back to Kiba.

"It's not what you said, it's what you didn't," Kiba explained, staring at me. "I was expecting you to start going on about Naruto again. Seriously, you've been weird since yesterday and now you don't even stop to think about him?"

"Indeed, it would seem that something is afoot," Shino added, his voice carefully neutral. "Perhaps you should explain now. Why, you might ask? Because if you do not, then we will only come to distrust you about less trivial matters. For us to cooperate, as Kurenai-sensei instructed, we must build a foundation of sharing such matters."

My gaze moved back and forth between the two of them, and for a brief moment my eyes landed on Akamaru as a small part of me hoped he'd save me from this. Akamaru, of course, did no such thing. He just looked at me like the others. "Since we graduated, I…" I fumbled a bit, trying to figure out how to explain the oddities away. "Well, I guess things changed. It might not mean as much to you, but I sort of woke up to a whole new world this morning. We're not just a bunch of kids pretending anymore, and even Kurenai-sensei won't be able to protect us completely if we go out on missions. I'm n-not saying we should be scared, but… well, I guess I had to grow up a little. Naruto-kun will be fine; he's a lot tougher than he looks, and he'll never really give up on something once he sets his mind to it."

Akamaru yipped something to Kiba, who nodded and leaned back against his seat a little. "I guess that kind of makes sense. You're getting all serious about this? It's about time. Still don't know what you see in that dead-last idiot, though."

"He never gives up," I repeated, laughing a little. "It's… it's a respectable thing, especially with how things have been for me lately. I can't really talk about it, but I needed someone to help me keep stable. I'm hoping I can help him too, eventually." While I might not be crushing on him, God knows the boy needs some support right now.

"That would explain some oddities," Shino mumbled, "and your willingness to confront your own problems and attempt a more respectable approach to becoming a ninja is appreciated. However, I am not entirely convinced. Are you hiding something else from us?"

"Nn…" I stopped myself from refuting it outright. "I can't talk about all of it. Some of the problems are tied up in internal Clan matters, but I promise it won't affect either of you two. I just have a lot going on right now, so it kind of added up… hopefully whatever new me comes out of this is still someone you'll be okay working with."

Shino nodded quietly, and turned in his seat to think about it. Kiba was a little miffed, but he didn't seem angry at me. Maybe he's just not a fan of clan politics and such? He was a pretty straightforward boy, so it made sense that he wouldn't like that kind of thing. Loyalty, pack mentality, and all of that might be stronger with Inuzuka too; messing with pack wouldn't really be cool by him, if that was right. I couldn't outright ask, though, and didn't really want to. The faster the subject moved to something less close to home, the better off I'd be.

After a while of just stewing in silence, I cleared my throat. "So, what are your dreams? We didn't really cover that yesterday, but knowing where each of us wants to end up is good too."

"For me there's really only one place to aim, and that's the very top!" Kiba said proudly, seemingly as glad for the new subject as I was to be rolling it along. "I'm going to become the Hokage someday."

"Then it would seem that you and Naruto will be rivals," Shino noted, adjusting his glasses as he spoke. "Because Naruto wishes to be Hokage as well. If his determination is as endless as Hinata suggests, then you may be in for some competition."

Kiba scoffed at this, but when he looked at me, I was just staring at him flatly. Naruto becoming Hokage was actually a lot more believable to me than Kiba was, having seen how they both grew up before. "Hey!" Kiba barked at my non-response. "Come on, you're my teammate! You have to support me on this, not him!"

"Sorry, Kiba-kun, but you have your work cut out for you. Never underestimate your opponent, unless you want to lose to them." I took a deep breath, and pressed on when he opened his mouth again. "Even if it's a 'dead-last' student; they have the most reason to try harder and pick up the slack later in life. The runt of the litter only learns to fight harder for his share, right?"

"… I guess you're right," Kiba admitted thoughtfully. "I'll have to give it my best when we meet up again, if I don't want to get embarrassed by him. So, what's your dream then, Hinata-chan?"

"Well… if you asked me a few days ago I probably would've just blushed and mumbled something," I admitted, with the canon Hinata in mind, "but I need to know more about the world before I can settle down and pick one goal." Like finding out what that hand that grabbed me was, or why I'm here, or if I can ever go home again.

"There is much of the world that has yet to be discovered," Shino agreed with his more ponderous tone. "I believe that I would prefer to find new species of insects and new lands out in the world. Leaving my mark on history and advancing my clan in such a way would be most satisfying, I believe."

"Hah. So you brought it up, but you didn't even have an answer?" Kiba laughed at me, but I could tell he wasn't trying to bully me. "At least when we all grow up, I can send you and Shino-kun on missions to find stuff out for me."

After that, most of the conversation was light-hearted and humorous. Mostly an exchange of hobbies, some stories and a joke or two. Kiba did most of the talking, but Shino was surprisingly verbose about entomology and how different creatures could benefit shinobi living. Once we got our food we were quiet, eating to recover from the test. We had the afternoon and evening to ourselves, if we didn't have any other plans, so there wasn't anything to hurry or prepare for.

I felt Shino's gaze on me once the meal ended, though, and I looked at him with eyebrow raised.

"Hinata-san, it seems that what Kurenai said about kunoichi at the end of our debriefing bothered you. While each person has their own role in a system like Konoha, I believe that how we are born should not exclusively define how we should serve. Indeed, the assumption that Kiba-san and I would need a dedicated mediator on our team merely because we are boys grates on me as well. Because of this, I will endeavor to avoid such issues in the future, so that each of us can serve as best we are able."

My heart lifted a bit at this, and Kiba stammered a bit before letting out a noise of agreement. "Right, we shouldn't be making anyone babysit us, especially if you've got all that going on in your life already. It's like you said, we all have to grow up now that we're Genin, right? Don't worry about us."

"Thanks, Shino-kun, Kiba-kun," I answered gratefully, letting out a sigh of relief.

After lunch we went our separate ways again. I watched Kiba and Shino leave, then went for a walk around the village again. I wasn't really eager to head back home, or back to the antagonism that the other Hyuuga sent my way. It was just looks, but the pressure people could exert with 'just looks' was honestly unreal.

So, instead of going through that again right away, I wanted to find somewhere to relax. I didn't really know anyone's addresses or favorite hangouts, and the only places I did know about weren't really places you'd go to casually—the Academy and the Hokage Tower. Even if I did know where anyone was, I wasn't really anyone's friend yet, either. Eventually, I decided I'd try my luck with finding the library, and anyone inside it.

I played with my chakra and some leaves as I walked, trying to get them to stick to my fingertips, as a warm-up for the eventual tree-walking exercise. Since Hyuuga were so dependent on their tenketsu and Byakugan with the clan fighting style, chakra control was something I'd have to build up as soon as possible. I had to get rid of those leaves when I got there, but it was a good start despite the numerous slip-ups that left leaves drifting or bursting into dust.

The library was mostly empty when I got there, with just one or two people reading alone at their tables, aside from the librarians working behind the desk. I guess school is still in session for thee younger years, after all, I reasoned, looking through the selection of books. The library wasn't ninja-exclusive, so there were all kinds of guides and subjects, rather than being a jutsu archive.

I was browsing the shelves for a while before I found something I couldn't ignore. Jammed into one of the shelves was a book with Jiraiya's name on it, but it wasn't burning orange or marked with the Icha Icha series name. Instead, it was an old copy of The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi, bound in a plain brown with a plain beige cover. I carefully took it off the shelf, before heading to one of the tables to read over it.

This was the book that much of the later plot revolved around, with how it defined and was defined by Nagato's own efforts to bring peace to the world. Despite that, it was apparent to see just how much of it was built on Jiraiya's experiences with Tsunade and Orochimaru, and after the prologue it was that connection, and the parallels with Team Seven, that really summed up what the book was about. Still, it made an interesting read, and I had to wonder why people hadn't bought it. Maybe the idea of having to fight for peace had become a distant notion for most, when Minato had brought the latest Shinobi World War to a close years ago?

My discontent sigh at that possibility was met with an amused snort, and I looked up. I had to hide my disappointment with who I saw, not because it wasn't any of the main characters—that sort of expectation was ridiculous when none of them but Sakura and maybe Shino were really bookworms to begin with. It was because just for a second, I was expecting to see one of my friends from back in my world.

Instead of the wild-haired girl who laughed any time she saw me lost in my manga, though, it was a teenage girl a couple years my senior, with her long black hair tied back in a ponytail. She was wearing a green shirt and blue slacks, without any forehead protector in sight to mark her as a ninja. I raised an eyebrow at her amusement, getting a shrug back. "Sorry, Hyuuga-san, but I was just surprised someone as—er, priveleged as you would want to read something like that."

It took a few seconds to figure out how to respond to that. "I don't really think The Utterly Gutsy Shinobi's something that would be limited by class or rank. Everyone needs a reminder of what we're all fighting for once in a while."

Another amused snort came from the elder girl, and she sat down across from me. "Yeah, but it's so cheesy, isn't it?" She sounded a bit... conceited? "You could probably afford something better with your pocket change."

Ah. It's like that. Not Amber, but Richard, I mused, comparing the girl before me to the friends I left behind. Brave, with a bit of a grudge against those more privileged. The difference between civilian and ninja might factor in too. I took my time thinking about it, a nostalgic joy rising at the subtle irritation behind her eyes. "Even if I bought every book in Konoha, I wouldn't find one I respect as much as this one," I decided firmly.

This time I couldn't hide the smirk on my face as she frowned indecisively. I missed this, honestly, just finding someone like Richard who wore his heart on his sleeve and getting such nice reactions out of him just by deadpanning a silly line.

I had to wait a while for the girl's response, but every second just kept me smiling as I watched her expression shift from emotion to emotion. Confusion, disbelief, focus, more confusion, and then an amusement that matched my own. "Did you really mean that?" she asked, trying to manage a neutral tone and failing.

"Of course," I answered just as resolutely as before. "The character Naruto in this book, along with his teammates, aren't just walking stereotypes or anything like that. I can tell how much effort the author put into this, and I'm sad that it didn't sell nearly as well as it could have. The message about never giving up on your friends and the future is worth remembering, too."

"That's easy for you to say, isn't it? Hyuuga-san, try and think about how it is when you can't fight off everyone who's threatening your friends." The girl was drumming her fingers on the table, looking at me more intensely now. A personal matter?

"That's why shinobi exist. We're not just mercenaries, we're supposed to fight and die for our village, our people. We fight so you don't have to. But we can't do everything. There are things a non-ninja can do that ninja can't. With our status, we can't even really act in favor of one political movement or another without our motives being suspicious, and our training and missions mean we don't have time for other things in life. The clans have shops run by civilian clan members, too; not everything about us is ninja and birthright."

I could tell I hadn't convinced her, the way she was looking at me. She didn't press the subject, but moved on to something else. "Why didn't that book sell, anyway? I mean... if it's as big a deal as you say and all."

"The author, Jiraiya-sama, had gone through two wars by the time he wrote this. The generation he wrote for was getting used to peace that had been bought in blood long ago. If the future and the past both look sunny, who cares about a book warning you about stormy weather?" I held the book in question up as I spoke. "The people who would've been most likely to buy it were probably kids or non-ninja looking for something heroic, and there's some darker themes further into the book that might've repelled them, too. I guess it just hit the wrong audience." Too close to real life, too far to be relevant, for this world at least.

"And you're not looking at that same sunny future, Hyuuga-san?" she inquired, her eyes focused again.

"I just don't want to take that blood-stained peace for granted." Orochimaru was less than a year away. Less than a year to get up to Chunin level.

The ponytailed girl paused again, before nodding, apparently deciding something. "My name's Sato Akira, Hyuuga-san. It's nice to meet you. Maybe we can talk again another day?"

"Sure. I'm Hyuuga Hinata. It's a pleasure to meet you, Sato-san." I bowed lightly, despite that she hadn't, wanting to avoid any faux pas.

"Right. I'll see you later then, Hyuuga-san." Sato waved goodbye, before heading out with some books under her arm. I stayed for a while after that, finishing up my reading and helping to tidy up the library a bit before I left as well.

Author's Note: This seemed like the most appropriate time to end this chapter, so here we are. Now I'm going to pose a question to the readers, since I'm not entirely sure how to proceed with things from this point. Would you like to keep going as we have been, seeing most of what goes on during each of Hinata's days, or would you like to skip ahead to something more relevant to ninja life i.e. D-Ranks and getting to the eventual first C-Rank sooner? PM or comment in a review if you want to answer this, otherwise I'll decide and start writing on my own. This chapter was already delayed trying to decide on that.